Resources

Cockspur grass (Echinochloa crusgalli) grain

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This datasheet is pending revision and updating; its contents are currently derived from FAO's Animal Feed Resources Information System (1991-2002) and from Bo Göhl's Tropical Feeds (1976-1982).

The head of cockspur millet is a panicle containing small seeds. The seeds remain enclosed in the hulls hulls after threshing.

Distribution

Tropics and subtropics

Nutritional aspects

Nutritional attributes

Millets are relished by all kinds of livestock. As the seeds are hard, they should be ground or crushed before being fed to cattle and hogs; however, whole seeds or unthreshed bundles can be fed to poultry, although whole seeds are about 5% less digestible for poultry than ground seeds are.
If maize is available, a mixture of millet and maize generally performs better in pigs and poultry diets than either alone. Millet not merely improves weight gains and feed conversion, but also tends to produce a whiter, firmer fat in pigs than is obtained with maize alone. When millet is the only grain used for feeding, the performance is generally somewhat lower than with maize, for instance.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This datasheet is pending revision and updating; its contents are currently derived from FAO's Animal Feed Resources Information System (1991-2002) and from Bo Göhl's Tropical Feeds (1976-1982).